Gem Opportunities
Opportunities appear at turning points in human history to improve society. The paths we take depend on moral choices between different philosophies. The Communitas Expansion Pack adds this brand new feature to Civilization 5. It is similar to the Events from Civ 4. Overview Each opportunity has: *Historical significance. *A way to enhance or reform society. *Distinct moral choices. Opportunities present moral decisions, such as: #Invest in compassion, artistry, and conservation. #Invest in ruthlessness, militarism, and development. #Let locals decide instead of taking a national stance. Goals Good luck in life such as meeting someone interesting, getting an unexpected raise at work, and winning the lottery is fun and exciting! Bad luck like unexpected breakups or getting fired is frustrating and depressing. We play games to have fun! Opportunities are therefore designed to feel like good luck. The benefits are clearly visible, while the downsides are hidden in the background with economic and accounting concepts. For example, consider an opportunity where we invest 150g in +3 science per turn. Benefits *+3 science per turn. Downsides *Balanced with higher tech costs: gains *All players have the same opportunity rate: externalities *Happens at an unpredictable place and time: risk *We must forgo the other choices: opportunity cost *We have early costs for late income: time value of money, return on investment None of the downsides are shown on the opportunity popup window, to make them feel fun and powerful. We only see an up-front cost for a per-turn bonus. Even if the trigger of an opportunity has a negative aspect, like protests, the outcomes can be positive: reducing crime or improving education. It's an opportunity to improve society. The central government can invest in this opportunity to get better results, or let the local authorities handle it with fewer resources, lower costs, and lower rewards. Details Say we're in the Medieval era on standard game speed. We get 1 opportunity every 20 turns, at a random time during those 20 turns. It works like this: #Each turn has a rising chance of an opportunity. #If the chance happens: #*Run an opportunity. #*Block future opportunities. #*Continue incrementing the chance. #When the stored chance reaches 100%: #*Reset chance to 0%. #*Unblock opportunities. For example, if we're at turn 100 in the Medieval era, things might go like this: turn:'' chance'' 100: 0% : 101: 5% 102: 10% 103: 15% 104: 20% 105: 25% - 25% chance randomly happens this turn. - Do an opportunity. - Block future opportunities. 106: 30%: blocked ... 123: 90%: blocked 124: 95%: blocked 125: 100%: - Reset to 0%. - Unblock opportunities. 126: 0% 127: 5% 128: 10%: chance opportunity occurs 129: 15%: blocked 130: 20%: blocked 131: 25%: blocked ... repeating ... The increase in +% chance per turn depend on era and game speed. For normal speed these are the current timers: : This means in the Medieval era we always have 1 opportunity every 20 turns. It randomly occurs earlier or later in that 20-turn timeframe, but the average is constant. After 60 turns in the medieval era we'd have precisely 3 opportunities.